How Barbie's Boyiend Ken Beme an Accintal Gay In | HowStuffWorks

Contents:

• KEN HAS ALWAYS BEEN BARBIE’S GAY BT FRIEND—NOT HER BOYIEND
• THE FUTURE OF GAY BARBIE DOLLS AND THE HISTORY OF EARRG MAGIC KEN
• WHAT ABOUT GAY BOB?
• MATTEL MA A GAY KEN DOLL THAT WAS IT'S BT SELLG KEN DOLL EVER
• THAT TIME MATTEL ACCINTALLY MA KEN GAY
• HOW BARBIE'S BOYIEND KEN BEME AN ACCINTAL GAY IN

KEN HAS ALWAYS BEEN BARBIE’S GAY BT FRIEND—NOT HER BOYIEND

So they had no ia that say, Madonna’s ol back up dancers, were actually gay that’s how we end up wh Earrg Magic Ken, a pann to Earrg Magic Barbie clad a purple mh shirt, a purple leather vt, wearg a big, shy, silver rg around his neck.

While he fs to some gay stereotyp, (pecially om the early '90s), ’s the necklace that really got everyone’s gay thor and journalist Dan Savage explas a lumn about the doll om 1993, the late '80s and early '90s, bis beg a sex toy, a ck rg was the queer fashn statement of the time. The accsory was a staple of the gay club culture that was blowg up at the time, a scene Ken would f right to wh his leather/mh ensemble.

Mattel stnchly ni the doll was tend to have anythg to do wh homosexualy at all. Some even claim the bt sellg Barbie mol ever, but as Mattel is unwillg to discs our iend Ken’s current stat, that tle go to Total Hair Barbie (released the year before), he will always have his ltle place history as the time Barbie supported her boyiend explorg his homosexual tennci. He’s Barbie’s gay bt iend.

THE FUTURE OF GAY BARBIE DOLLS AND THE HISTORY OF EARRG MAGIC KEN

The film won’t say , but a post-creds punchle about Ken’s handwrg, plete wh hearts and stars surroundg his name, tells what we need to heavily implied nature of Ken’s gayns Toy Story 3 harkens back to Hollywood’s tradnal gay bt iend-type characters.

In the Hays Co era, explic referenc to homosexualy weren’t allowed, so characters like Van Buren (Frankl Pangborn) 1937’s Easy Livg, Kip (David Wayne) 1949’s Adam’s Rib, or Addison (Gee Sanrs) 1950’s All About Eve stead were imbued wh effemate characteristics, offerg a glimpse outsi of heteronormativy whout explicly beg of the characters were the same—some were tty, others sweet. But each of the gay bt iends was trsilly fed by their relatnships wh their straight iends. Des later, 2010, the gay bt iend was all the rage; Teen Vogue even went so far as to proclaim the GBF as the summer’s mt-have accsory.

But unlike the first half of the 20th century, today’s cema, the GBF is allowed to be openly gay. In movi like Mean Girls (2004), The Devil Wears Prada (2006), Easy A (2010), No Strgs Attached (2011), and Isn’t It Romantic (2019), gay iends exist entirely the orb of their female iends.

WHAT ABOUT GAY BOB?

” But Barbie do, and for Ken, that’s are plenty of reasons why the film wouldn’t outrightly state that Ken is homosexual. ), and of urse, and earrg the “gay ear”. ) Earrg Magic Ken turned Barbie’s boyiend to an out-and-proud homosexual raver.

Mattel, of urse, vehemently nied any claims that Ken was gay, let alone that he had somethg as prepostero as a ck rg around his neck. As a rult, gay men bought the doll drov, and spe Mattel ultimately rellg the doll and wipg away any trace of Earrg Magic Ken, was near-impossible to see Ken as anythg but the glor homosexual he was born to be om then on.

MATTEL MA A GAY KEN DOLL THAT WAS IT'S BT SELLG KEN DOLL EVER

Though Mattel don’t seem to be willg to say Ken is actually gay, the Ken dolls of recent years seem to really lean to Ken’s queerns.

While there is no way to “drs gay, ” there are several dolls that seem to suggt otherwise, such as:Fashnista Ken #193, who looks very exced to tell you about his new obssn, Troye Sivan;Travel Ken Doll, who has a satchel perfect for bathho and a purple overnight bag that lerally proclaims he’s “extra;”Ken Looks Doll, servg “I’m gonna give you a makeover”-type realns while sportg black pleather pants;This Ken, who wears the least heterosexual double nim I have a feelg the new Barbie movie will put the work to nvce that Ken is a hetero du who lov nothg life more than Barbie herself, the wrg’s already on the wall: Ken is, and always will be, Barbie’s gay bt obssg!

And clearly, no one red about Earrg Magic Barbie bee Earrg Magic Ken end up turng to a gay in and beme one of Mattel’s most profable dolls!

THAT TIME MATTEL ACCINTALLY MA KEN GAY

This gave birth to Mattel’s early 90s gay nightmare (a betiful accint, if you ask me): Earrg Magic Ken looked like the plastic stereotype of queer fashn back then: drsed a lavenr mh t-shirt, a matchg purple leather jacket, tightly fted black jeans, and a pierced earrg at a perd when men havg pierced ears was still nsired taboo the Uned Stat. Earrg Magic Ken was wrten about by Dan Savage who is a popular lumnist and podster, 1993 when Mattel had bee the lghg stock of pop culture for their failure to unrstand that kids of that era found outfs by Prce, members of Right Said Fred, or Madonna’s backup dancers “ol” but they were nsired by the adults as simply… gay! The doll rocketed off the shelv, particularly bee gay men, cludg Savage, hurried out to get their hands on one.

Though the Earrg Magic Ken cint evinced that LGBTQ+ culture had been absorbed to the mastream media at the time, Ken merely ntued to rema the butt of jok until Savage published his terpretatn of the gay-culture unrlyg msage nveyed by wearg the sex toy and fashn. Pictur of the Allan doll have gone viral a few tim on social media, as many people believe that Ken, Mattel's famo doll who has historilly been marketed as Barbie's boyiend, is actually gay.

HOW BARBIE'S BOYIEND KEN BEME AN ACCINTAL GAY IN

We already knew Mattel's Ken doll has a very hilar, very queer history, but se you need more proof that the Barbie character is an advertent gay in, here's a new velopment for you.